In The News

N. Korea Plans Free Trade Zone on Island

Toru Makinoda February 5, 2009
North Korea, one of the most closed nations in the world, may soon have more contact with China, with plans for a free trade zone on Wi Hwa Island. Chinese would not need visas, and the trade zone could increase food and other shipments into North Korea. Analysts suggest that North Korea could be using such a zone to pressure South Korea into continuing its policies of conciliation, reports Toru...

Drug Making’s Move Abroad Stirs Concerns

Gardiner Harris January 28, 2009
Consumers want inexpensive medications and yet express concern about pharmaceutical firms relocating factories abroad, along with the loss of jobs and possible loss of quality control. “Like other manufacturing operations, drug plants have been moving to Asia because labor, construction, regulatory and environmental costs are lower there,” reports Gardiner Harris for the New York Times, adding...

Darwin’s Recessionary Tip: Act Like a Beetle

Jonathan Guthrie January 12, 2009
Darwin’s teachings on evolution, explained in “The Origin of Species,” may offer pointers and solace for those intent on handling global recession. In the Financial Times, Jonathan Guthrie suggests that both companies and species share the drive to survive and expand: “Companies and living organisms share the objective of generating surpluses, either of money or calorific energy. Repeated...

Battle in a Poor Land for Riches Beneath the Soil

Lydia Polgreen December 29, 2008
Africa's natural resources – oil, diamonds and now uranium – immediately invite conflict among factions. Increased energy needs of emerging economic giants like China and India, as well as the rising interest in nuclear power as an alternative energy source due to climate change, increase global demand for uranium. On paper, increased trade profits would seem a huge benefit to Niger, one of...

Lump Together and Like It

November 10, 2008
The statistics on urbanization worldwide are startling – in the past 30 years alone, urban populations have gone from 1.6 to 3.3 billion people, while the next 30 years project additional growth of 2 billion people. The scale and speed of urbanization today is unprecedented in history, with projections of 2 billion slum-dwellers in 2030. Developing countries like Egypt, with more than 18 million...

Evicted from Coastal Homes

Dave Bull November 10, 2008
Spain’s 1988 "Ley de la costa," forbids homes within 550 yards of the coast, and the government is taking action to enforce the law. Owners may get leases, up to 60 years, to use the property, but can’t resell. Some analysts suggest the government is less forceful with developers and owners of commercial properties. Up to 500,000 homes are threatened, and complicating matters is many...

Development Doesn't Require Big Government

William Easterly October 9, 2008
Pain from the US financial crisis is spreading globally, with leadership in developing countries often blaming free-market failures. The free market is under attack worldwide: Honduras’s president deems its laws "demonic" and the Brazilian head of state suggests its speculation causes the "anguish of entire peoples." Economist and author William Easterly traces this strong...